Friendly Competition & Pushing Limits
by laceylove
Summary: Bella is running from something, and what began as a friendly competition between brothers turn into a dedication to pull Bella from the depths of depression.


"I said I'm not fucking hungry!" I grabbed my satchel and stomped out of the kitchen. I was sick to death of Charlie trying to force feed me. Couldn't he understand that i just wasn't hungry? Well that wasn't quite true. I was hungry, but there was no way i was going to eat. Ever since the incident in Phoenix I had slowly eaten less and less. I just couldn't bring myself to eat regularly. True I did eat sometimes, not often. Generally, I ate a little at dinner and maybe something at breakfast. That was all i was comfortable with, but lately Charlie had begun to quiz me on my eating habits, and was trying to coax me into eating more.

`I threw my satchel into my truck and started it up. This was my second day at Forks High. Renee had shipped me here because i was becoming more and more withdrawn and she didn't know how to deal with me. So here I was, living with Charlie. I didn't mind Forks so much; it was small, with a very small crime rate. I hadn't made any friends as of yet, and I didn't plan to. People asked too many questions. Always wanting to know why, why, why.

As i pulled into the student parking lot i noticed that quite a few people from my grade were gathered around a silver Volvo. _Good, at least if there's a new addition to the school I'll be left alone._ I pulled my satchel onto my lap as i undid my seatbelt. I pulled out my phone and logged onto the internet. I opened my blog and quickly wrote about my morning, i kept it short so that it wouldn't turn into a rant. I shoved my phone back into my satchel as the bell rang. Perfect.

I hopped out of my truck and began walking toward the school. I had Spanish first up, which wouldn't have been so bad if i hadn't been assigned a seat at a bench by myself. Across the aisle from me was Mike Something, he had taken immediate interest in me, even though i had brushed off his attempts at conversation repeatedly. I shook my head as i recalled his questioning eyes; I walked past the Volvo and almost tripped on nothing.

Two of the most beautiful men (no one would describe these men as boys) I had ever seen were climbing out of the car. They were similar and yet worlds apart at the same time. The driver had bronze hair whilst the passenger had white blonde hair. They both had very fair skin and from what i could see, green eyes. The red-head was slightly shorter than the blonde they were about the same build and from what their rolled up sleeves revealed, muscular. I dragged my eyes away from them and noticed that there was a third member to their group. Possibly the largest human I had ever seen climbed out of the back of the car. He wasn't fat, he was just enormous. Taller than the first two, he had very broad shoulders, thickly muscled arms and a head of dark curly hair. He said something to the first two and they chuckled in response.

I quickly looked away and continued to my Spanish class. I shouldn't have been looking at them. Better to go unnoticed. I didn't want any male attention at all, and staring at them would only result in them noticing me and then the unwanted male attention. I pulled my satchel higher onto my shoulder and followed Lauren into the classroom.

I was studiously taking notes until about ten minutes into class when there was a knock on the door. The blonde and red-head walked in and spoke to the teacher. She turned to the class and announced our new classmates; "This is Edward Cullen," gesturing to the red-head, "and Jasper Whitlock." She then turned to the newcomers and gestured to my bench and to another closer to the front of the classroom. Edward took the seat closest to the front and Jasper walked toward me.

I cringed and tried to make myself as small as possible. I stared intently at my notes and refused to acknowledge the person sitting beside me. I slowly pulled my seat as far away from him as i could go. I clenched my pen tightly and tried to concentrate on the lesson being recited to us. I swung my hair off my shoulder to protect myself from his gaze.

I heard him turn in his seat and lean forward so that he could see my face past my hair. "Don't worry; I won't copy your work." He smiled, he had a lovely smile but i just shrunk backward and stared at a spot just above his head. His forehead creased and he leaned back in his seat. He didn't try to talk to me again throughout the lesson. As soon as the bell rang I gathered my things and rushed out of the room, I didn't need to spare a backward glance to know that he was staring after me, confused.

I ran down the corridor toward the girls' bathroom, as I turned the corner I collided with someone. I stumbled and fell and my satchel fell off my shoulder and skidded across the floor. I looked up as I stood and dusted myself off. "Sorry about that." I looked up at the unfamiliar voice. It was another one of the new guys. What was going on? Were they sent here just to annoy me? The giant picked up my satchel and handed it me.

"Thanks," I took it from him, careful not to touch him. "Sorry." I hurried past him and didn't look back. Hopefully they would gossip about my weird behaviour and leave me the hell alone. I locked myself into the first available stall and took a few deep breaths. I really didn't need to have a panic attack at school. I gathered myself and left the bathrooms. As I entered the corridor I turned toward the English rooms for my next class. I would be late but I was over it.

"Hey, wait." I turned and frowned when i saw the giant walking toward me.

"Yeah?" I stopped and waited for him to speak, he looked me over and I felt very uncomfortable. _I don't need this shit_. He held out his hand.

"You dropped your phone. I'm Emmett." I took my phone from him and shoved it in my bag.

"Bella." That was polite enough and if he didn't pick up the hint that I didn't want to speak then he was dumber than he looked.

"Well Bella, since I was waiting to return your phone my guide went on without me. So if you'd be kind enough to point me in the direction of my English class I'd be mighty pleased." He grinned at me as I turned to look at him. He was teasing me! He was being extra polite because I wasn't. I took his offered time table and quickly scanned it. Fantastic! He's in my class.

"Follow me." I quickly walked to the classroom and entered without checking if he was still behind me.

"Ah, Ms Swan. Mr McCarty. How nice of you to join us. Please take a seat." He pointed us in the direction of an empty set of seats. This was turning into a really shitty day.

"So, Bella what's Forks like?" I knew he was just trying to make conversation and possibly a friend but I was getting really pissed off.

"Shit from what I've seen in the few weeks that I've lived here." I pulled out my text book and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

"Oh so you're new to town too? Cool." He turned to his own work and I wondered how both of us being new to town was a good thing.

The rest of the school day passed in much the same fashion with at least one of the three newcomers seated next to me in class. They all tried to speak to me and I rebuffed each of their attempts. As I left the school and walked to my truck I wondered about their names, at first I had assumed they were brothers or perhaps cousins. But they each had different surnames; Edward Cullen, Jasper Whitlock, Emmett McCarty. Very odd. And in biology Edward had been seated next to me and Jasper sat directly behind me. They spoke about "the girls" arriving tomorrow. Who were the girls? Their girlfriends? Sisters? I had no idea. It was possibly the most interesting thing that had ever happened in Forks.

As I reached my truck I pulled my phone out of my bag and checked my messages. Just one from mum asking about school. As I quickly tapped out a reply I noticed someone walking beside me. I glanced up and groaned out loud. "Don't look so happy to see me Bella, you'll give me a big head." Emmett grinned at me for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

"What do you want?" I reached out the open the door of my truck but he just leaned up against the cab.

"Well me and my brothers have a bet going on." So they were brothers... Then what was with the surnames? Wait, what bet? "See, the first one to make you smile or laugh wins fifty bucks. Donated by the other two, of course."

"Why would you bet on something like that?" Why did they care if I smiled or not?

"Well you seem grumpy, and we wanna be your friend, at least I want to be your friend, and you're making that quite a challenge. So in our competitive nature we made it just that little bit sweeter to win." I shook my head.

"Well, good luck. I intend to ignore all three of you." He just grinned again and opened the door for me. I scowled at his kindness and started up my very loud truck. I glared in the general direction of their car as I left the school grounds.


End file.
